Feast on Leads This Holiday Season

It’s Easy as Pie

Through the holiday season, it’s especially important to remain consistent and innovative with SDR techniques.

AJ and Alex cover some tips in an episode of Opt In, and continue scrolling for more advice from our SDR team.

“You only have one chance to make a good first impression” is a cliché that will follow you around. In most facets of life, this thought process is overestimated. It is not difficult to sway early opinions – negatively or positively.

In the arena of cold-calling, however, this idiom rings unusually true.

When prospecting via phone, you have to remember that you are a stranger, reaching out to a very busy person, who most likely has no interest or intention of speaking with you. That makes your first impression, and your presentation, especially vital.

In this season of giving, let’s review a few points of interest that are sure to provide a bountiful harvest of leads for you moving into the New Year.

Freshen up

Just like you might get a pre-Thanksgiving haircut or dry clean your nicest shirt/dress, SDRs would do well to use this time of year for a messaging refresh. As the “out of office” replies stream in, take the initiative to look back at your email templates and see what can be tweaked. Run some A/B tests for subject lines, look back through your replies, and apprise yourself of email best practices.

Impress your prospects with new messaging like you impress your grandparents with a fresh haircut.

Don’t gobble your way through conversations

Enunciation truly is imperative. Cold-calling is a verbal art. You must rehearse as a musician does, prospect with a concise and controlled cadence. Take the time to learn the correct pronunciation of the prospect’s name if you do not know it. Be comfortable stating your name and your company’s name.

And most importantly, you must follow all these steps without sounding like you have a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

Don’t overcook your prospect

Feeding a prospect too much technical information can ruin a conversation. Especially if you lead with a long-winded, rambling diatribe. Remember that you are initiating a conversation. Native Americans and Pilgrims did not make temporary peace with a one-sided tirade. It takes back and forth; a balance between information and building a relationship. If you find yourself to be the only one speaking, take a step back.

A prospect likely won’t give a cluck about your pitch if you do not take the time to understand them.

Timing is imperative

Leave the turkey in the oven too long, it will char. Too short, too pink. Find a calling cadence that is effective. Be mindful of trends — utilize a call plan that is systematic and effective. Additionally, be conscious of when prospects are most likely to answer their phones. There are definite patterns; we’ve noticed an increased connect rate in the early part of the day (9:00- 10:00) and at the end of the day (4:00–5:00). People tend to read their emails with lunch, so give the 11:00–1:00 hours a try with those.

On Thanksgiving, each food takes a different amount of time to cook; a chef must make order in the chaos. In the SDR world, you are the chef. Get your timing right, and success will come.

Set your menu in advance

On that note, don’t try to cobble together a Thanksgiving feast the night before. The same goes for your prospects. The holidays are a notoriously slow time of year, and reps often find it difficult to start new relationships while prospects are dreaming of their upcoming vacation. Leveraging the conversations you’ve already had earlier in the year is especially important around Thanksgiving.

If you truly want the best ingredients, you’ll have to prepare weeks beforehand. And if you truly want a healthy pipeline, you’ll have to prepare months beforehand.